I woke one minute before the first alarm.
4:29.
For several seconds, I remained still and watched the numbers change.
4:30.
The phone began vibrating across the desk.
I stood before touching it.
The second alarm waited beneath the first. Then the third. Five in total, each set with enough space between them to rescue me from myself.
I dismissed only the first.
The others remained active.
That mattered more than it should have.
My packed bag stood beside the door. Clothes, identification card, medication from the campus clinic, a rain jacket, two notebooks, and the medical-evaluation paper I had been told to carry even though it explained nothing.
The apartment was dark.
Outside, Yandong had become a city without morning buses.
No route announcements reached the window. No brakes hissed at the corner. The transportation strike had removed the familiar noises first, then forced everyone to understand how much of the city had depended on them.
I checked the time again.
4:33.
The university coach was scheduled to depart at 5:30, but Mr. Kim had ordered everyone to assemble beside the Grand Fountain by five.
Mr. Kim believed time worked differently for students. If departure was at five-thirty, attendance had to begin thirty minutes earlier so he could spend twenty minutes asking where everyone was.
My phone rang.
Grandmother.
I answered with video.
Her camera remained black.
"You are awake," she said.
"I was planning to surprise the university."
"Do not joke before sunrise. It sounds unhealthy."
Her voice was softer than usual.
"Why is your camera off?"
"Because I am an old woman before five in the morning. Some truths should remain private."
"You called me."
"Audio was invented for mercy."
Something moved near her phone.
A cup touched a table.
Then came a cough she tried to shorten.
"Are you sick?"
"I swallowed the wrong way."
"That sounded like three wrong ways."
"Everything sounds dramatic when you are listening for danger."
I sat on the edge of the bed.
"Did you go to the clinic?"
"For a cough? The doctor would become richer and I would return with the same throat."
"That is not an answer."
"It is the only answer available before breakfast."
Her breathing remained audible for a moment.
Then she moved the phone farther away, and the sound disappeared.
"You packed warm clothes?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Rain jacket?"
"Yes."
"Medicine?"
"The clinic gave me tablets I do not need."
"Take them anyway."
"That is not how medicine works."
"Then carry them professionally."
I smiled.
Her voice strengthened when she heard it.
"Send me a photograph from the mountain," she said. "One where I can see the whole valley."
"You want proof I went?"
"I want proof you looked at something other than your own problems."
"That may require a wider camera."
She laughed once.
The laugh became another cough before the call ended.
I stared at the dark screen.
A message arrived almost immediately.
GRANDMOTHER: I am fine. Go before you miss the coach.
I typed See a doctor.
Deleted it.
Typed I will call when we arrive.
Sent that instead.
The motorcycle taxi left me two streets from Utopia University's South Gate.
The driver refused to approach the final intersection.
"Too many people," he said.
The people were transport workers gathered around three parked buses. Black ribbons hung from the mirrors. Handwritten signs rested against the windshields.
SAFE HOURS ARE NOT A LUXURY
REPAIR THE BUSES BEFORE THEY BURY US
A CITY DOES NOT MOVE BY ITSELF
Police watched from the opposite pavement.
Their shields were stacked inside a truck for now.
I paid the driver and walked.
The South Gate opened only wide enough for pedestrians. Security officers checked identification cards beneath portable lamps.
Beyond the gate, Utopia Tower rose through the blue darkness. Its upper windows reflected clouds that had not yet decided whether to become rain.
The boys' dormitory remained quiet to the west.
The girls' dormitory showed several windows lit to the east.
I followed the circular road past Utopia Tower toward the center of Campus 2.
The campus lake sat lower than it had three days earlier.
The stone edge showed another narrow band of dampness where water had receded overnight.
At the Grand Fountain, only the central jet worked.
It rose, weakened, then rose again.
The private coach waited beside it with its engine running.
Across the windshield, the university had placed a printed sign.
AUTHORIZED EDUCATIONAL TRANSPORT
Someone had already drawn a question mark beneath it.
NC arrived first among the students and had therefore appointed herself assistant coordinator.
She held a printed attendance list in one hand and pointed at luggage with the other.
"Large bags beneath the coach. Personal bags inside. If you put food in the luggage compartment and complain when it becomes warm, I will not participate in your grief."
"Who gave you authority?" Cherry asked.
"Everyone who arrived after me."
Cherry placed her bag beneath the coach while continuing to look rebellious.
Bunny carried enough snacks for a natural disaster.
Anna had packed a small medical kit despite traveling with an entire health cohort.
Jihye stood near the fountain comparing the temperature on her phone with the cold air moving through the plaza.
"The forecast says twenty-four degrees," she said.
"The forecast also said no rain during the midterm," Cherry replied. "The sky failed the course."
Kitty arrived beside NC with one suitcase and no visible patience.
She saw me near the luggage compartment.
"You are late."
"It is five-oh-eight."
"You could have been earlier."
"That is how time works."
She looked at my face as though checking whether I had slept.
"Did the alarms work?"
"All five remain emotionally available."
"That is not what I asked."
"I woke before them."
Her shoulders relaxed.
She took the smaller bag from my hand.
"I can carry that."
"I know."
"Then why did you take it?"
"Because you were going to carry both and pretend your breathing is fine."
"Everyone has become a medical supervisor."
"You created an opening in the job market."
She carried the bag onto the coach.
NC watched her go, then looked at me.
"Subtle," she said.
"What?"
"Nothing. Personal bags inside."
Anna smiled without explaining.
Jihye looked back at her weather application.
June arrived at 5:12 beneath Bunny's umbrella.
It was not raining.
Bunny said the umbrella was preventative.
Cherry said that was not how clouds worked.
June wore a pale jacket and carried one shoulder bag. She greeted Anna, NC, and Jihye normally. She greeted Kitty after a pause small enough to deny.
Then she looked at me.
"Morning."
"Morning."
Publicly, we remained capable of one word.
Her gaze moved toward the bag Kitty had carried inside for me.
She said nothing.
A dark car entered from the North Gate and stopped beyond the fountain.
NS stepped out.
The driver opened the trunk, but NS removed his own luggage before assistance could become visible.
TZ exited from the opposite side carrying a route folder and two sealed envelopes for Mr. Kim.
JP had been entertaining Bunny with a theory that Mountain Valley was a university plot to prevent students from appealing their rankings. His sentence stopped when he saw TZ.
TZ saw him too.
Neither looked away quickly enough.
"You came together," JP said.
"The west terminal route is blocked," TZ answered. "NS's driver collected me."
"Efficient."
"Yes."
The word carried no apology.
JP looked toward the coach.
"I was going to save you a seat."
TZ tightened his grip on the route folder.
"Mr. Kim needs me near the front."
"Of course he does."
JP walked away before TZ could answer.
He stopped beside me.
"I have chosen your faction," he said.
"There are no factions."
"Excellent. I am joining the faction that believes that."
Across the fountain, TZ handed the envelopes to NS for safekeeping while he checked the luggage labels.
June thanked NS when he lifted her suitcase into the compartment.
Bunny moved closer to help.
Cherry remained beside them, criticizing the university's luggage tags.
The plaza had divided itself before anyone admitted there were sides.
Mr. Kim arrived at 5:18 carrying a travel mug and the expression of a man disappointed that most students had followed instructions.
The Sleeping Man walked beside him.
JP looked alarmed.
"Are both of you coming?"
"No," the Sleeping Man said.
"Thank God."
"I came to ensure the coach leaves before you discover another academic emergency."
"My emergencies are naturally occurring."
"So are parasites."
Mr. Kim took the attendance list from NC.
"Health Track only," he announced. "Business, Engineering, and Computing departures have been postponed because their charter permits were not approved before the strike deadline. Their programs will be rescheduled. Ours will continue with modified activities."
Cherry raised her hand.
"So the interdisciplinary program has one discipline."
"For this week, yes."
"That sounds like normal university planning."
"Put that observation in your final reflection."
Mr. Kim checked the list.
"The private coach has clearance through the northern transport corridor. We may be delayed at union checkpoints. Nobody argues with workers, police, drivers, or anyone holding a barrier."
JP looked at me.
"Can we argue with each other?"
"You seem committed to it," Mr. Kim said.
He returned to the list.
"The weather in Mountain Valley will be cooler than Yandong, especially after sunset. Keep jackets accessible. Local organizers have prepared community observation, cooperative health activities, and a small cultural program."
"Is sleep considered cultural?" Bunny asked.
"Not for students."
The Sleeping Man finished his coffee.
"Return with the same number of students," he said.
JP pointed toward the coach.
"Can we exchange two?"
"No refunds after departure."
The Sleeping Man walked back toward Utopia Medical University Hospital.
Mr. Kim checked his watch.
"Board now."
No seating chart existed.
That allowed the truth to arrange itself.
NS placed his bag in the overhead compartment above the third row. June sat beside the window. He took the aisle without asking whether the seat was free.
Bunny and Cherry chose the row behind them.
TZ sat across the aisle near the front, close enough for Mr. Kim to hand him the route folder and far enough from JP to avoid conversation.
Kitty had already placed my smaller bag above the sixth row.
"This seat is taken," she told me.
"By whom?"
"Someone who arrives early."
I sat beside her.
NC and Anna took the row behind us. Jihye sat across from them.
JP dropped into the seat beside Jihye.
"I hope you understand this is a political alliance," he said.
"I wanted the window," Jihye replied.
"All great alliances begin with territorial compromise."
She put on her headphones.
JP looked toward TZ.
TZ was reviewing the route.
"Reliable people are exhausting," JP whispered.
I did not ask whether he meant TZ or himself.
At 5:37, the coach doors closed.
The Grand Fountain rose once behind the glass.
Its central jet failed before the bus began moving.
The coach passed the Grand Library and continued north between the Business and Computing buildings.
The North Gate opened for us.
Beyond it, the strike waited.
Two buses blocked the outer lane. Workers stood beneath black umbrellas despite the dry road. A portable barrier carried the union emblem and a handwritten notice.
PRIVATE PERMITS DO NOT MAKE PUBLIC ANGER DISAPPEAR
The driver slowed.
Mr. Kim stepped down with the documents.
Inside the coach, conversations became quieter.
"They approved the route," NS said. "We are not violating the stoppage."
"That is not what the sign says," I replied.
"The sign is an opinion. The permit is the agreement."
"Legal and welcomed are not the same thing."
June turned in her seat.
"Students did not create the negotiation failure."
"Nobody said we did."
"Then stop acting guilty for sitting on a bus."
Kitty looked past me toward the front.
"Feeling uncomfortable is not the same as admitting guilt."
Cherry leaned over her seat.
"If everyone is that uncomfortable, the door still opens. Mountain Valley is north. Start walking."
NC removed one earbud.
"That is not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
"That the university found private transportation for us while the rest of the city cannot reach work."
Bunny looked through the window at the workers.
"We still have to attend."
"Both things can be true," Anna said.
Nobody heard the sentence because everyone was preparing another one.
TZ turned from the front row.
"The union approved educational charters before the full strike began. The driver is not crossing a picket. The checkpoint is verifying documents."
"Thank you," NS said.
JP looked at TZ.
"Reliable and officially sourced."
TZ met his eyes.
"Would you prefer wrong information?"
"I would prefer many things."
Mr. Kim returned to the coach before the list could become personal.
The workers moved the barrier.
One of them looked through the windows while we passed.
His face held no anger.
Only exhaustion.
That was worse.
Yandong changed beyond the northern corridor.
The crowded neighborhoods thinned near the Seventh Battalion checkpoint. Soldiers waved the university coach toward the western mountain road.
Three military water tankers approached from the opposite direction.
Their destination placards had been covered.
At the next junction, they turned east toward a restricted road instead of continuing toward the city reservoirs.
Jihye lowered her headphones.
"Wrong direction," she said.
"For what?" Anna asked.
"Municipal supply."
TZ looked through the windshield.
"The strike probably changed the distribution route."
"Maybe," Jihye said.
NS had already returned to his phone.
The tankers disappeared behind the ridge.
Nobody discussed them again.
The road climbed.
Apartment blocks gave way to warehouses, then vegetable fields arranged along rising ground. Yandong remained behind us beneath a sheet of gray cloud.
JP distributed snacks from Bunny's emergency supply without receiving permission.
"Fourth-ranked students require additional calories," he explained.
"You are stealing crackers," Bunny said.
"Academically."
He offered one toward TZ across the aisle.
TZ looked at it.
For one moment, the old reflex almost returned.
Then he shook his head.
JP ate it himself.
The bus continued upward.
By nine, the air beyond the windows had changed color.
Mist collected between tall trees and moved across the road in pale sheets. Houses appeared along narrow ridges, their roofs descending in steps toward the valley. Small farms occupied every level patch of earth. Tea stalls opened beside switchbacks, steam escaping from metal kettles into the cold air.
The weather application still showed clear conditions.
Rain struck the windows.
"Of course," Jihye said.
The driver activated the wipers.
Wind bent the roadside trees toward the west.
The mist moved east.
I watched both directions until my eyes hurt.
Kitty placed a warm drink in my hand.
"Anna brought too many."
"There is no such thing as too much tea."
"You said that about wine once."
"Evidence obtained under previous management."
She looked toward the front of the coach.
June was speaking quietly with NS.
"How is your grandmother?" Kitty asked.
I turned back.
"Fine."
"You answered too quickly."
"She coughed. Apparently this has become a medical thriller."
"Did she see a doctor?"
"She said she swallowed wrong."
"Three times?"
I looked at Kitty.
"How did you know?"
"You counted the coughs."
I had not realized I said the number aloud.
"Call her when we arrive," Kitty said.
"I told her I would."
"Good."
The coach rounded another switchback.
A red truck stopped ahead of us. Its brake lights filled the wet window.
Red.
Dark.
Red again.
The seat belt tightened across my chest.
For half a second, the road appeared above me instead of beneath the wheels.
An ambulance light moved somewhere far down the mountain.
Then Kitty's fingers closed around my wrist.
"XH."
The coach stood upright.
The truck moved.
"Motion sickness," I said.
"You don't get motion sickness."
"There is a first time for everything."
She did not accept the answer.
She kept her fingers around my wrist until the road straightened.
The rain ended as quickly as it began.
Sunlight opened above the next ridge.
Everyone moved toward the windows.
Mountain Valley appeared below us.
The city did not occupy the valley floor. It climbed the surrounding ridges in layers, roads curling between neighborhoods and gardens. Pale buildings gathered around a market square. A temple roof caught the morning light. Beyond it, farms stretched across the high basin until they met another wall of mountains.
The view was wide enough for Grandmother.
I raised my phone and took a photograph through the glass.
The image caught the valley, the clouds, and a faint reflection from inside the coach.
June had fallen asleep against NS's shoulder.
His jacket covered part of her arm.
One hand rested between them on the seat, close enough to hers that the distance looked intentional.
I lowered the phone.
NS saw me through the reflection.
He did not move June away.
Kitty followed my gaze.
She reached past me and drew the curtain halfway across the window.
"The view is on this side," she said.
"I know."
Below us, Mountain Valley waited beneath the clearing sky.
The mountain had not divided us.
It had only given the distance somewhere visible to live.